I don't usually give recipes 5 stars if I tweaked it, but this was just so good that I'm giving in on this one. I had no celery (don't like it anyway), so I skipped it and added an extra carrot. I also didn't have any chicken bullion or vegetable stock, so I just added extra water and extra pepper as well. Then after it was all done and mixed up together, I added a small can of evaporated milk. The combination of the cloves and pepper was delicious. This was fast (I put the lentils, carrots, and onion all together at once, then cooked the potatoes separately) and easy and already look forward to the leftovers.

This was good, though I didn't follow it exactly. I didn't have any carrots, so I upped the celery and added onion and garlic. I also added a tablespoon of yellow curry powder and used vegetable broth. I found that I had to add a lot of water to the lentils as they cooked. I also didn't have real potatoes, so I ended up adding some potato flakes to thicken up the soup a bit. At the end I added a splash of balsamic vinegar. I would reccomend some parmesan cheese and maybe some spinach added to this, but overall it was good. My husband and my 3 year old also liked it.

I was very pleased with the way this turned out! I ran across this recipe as I used the "ingredient search" tool. I was out of onions, but wanted to use the bag of lentils I had. (I couldn't imagine a good lentil soup recipe without onions!) As it turns out, my husband had to go to the hardware store while I was cooking so he was nice enough to pick up some onions, which were a wonderful addition. (I had planned on using onion powder for flavoring.) I will definately agree with the other reviews...it needed a lot more water. Just keep you eye on it and add as needed. I also added a bay leaf for seasoning and a shake of garam masala. I was a bit wary of adding mashed potatoes...but I used about 4 small red ones. It was great! I will definately make this again and again. YUM!

I did not add pasta because I did not have any, however I will try again with pasta! My family loved this recipe. I used spicy sausage but it is flavorful enought to use regular sausage. I will definately keep this recipe.

i added mushroom, a few more spices twice the water and accidentally (don't ask) a can of vegetarian baked beans. i left everything "whole," but cooked it long enough to mash on its own. it turned out awesome. i'll certainly make it again.

This was a pleasant experience for my first taste of lentil soup. I knew they were good for me but was never brave to try them. I used 1.5 cups veggie broth instead of chicken broth and 6.5 cups of water after reading the reviews. I also used a cup of diced yams since I was all out of potatoes--it was great with the yams! I did kind of combine this recipe with Lentil Soup III by Molly and added cumin instead of cloves (I'm not a fan of cloves) and 1/8 c. of tomato paste. I think I'll try it with cloves to see what it's like next time. Oh, and once the lentils started boiling, I add the rest of the ingredients and didn't mash the yams--the soup cooked in plenty of time--next time I'll used leftover mashed potatoes.

While not a pretty soup, was very tasty and satisfying. I have never put mashed potatoes in a soup before, but I thought it was a great addition. I added an onion and 2 cloves of garlic, and used a small amount of powdered cloves instead of whole cloves.

awesome. I changed it just a little I added an onion. used 4 cups of chicken broth, and 4 cups of water. I did not mash the potatoes just diced them. I threw eveything into the pot all at once. very delicous a keeper.

This was a very good and very easy recipe. Like other reviewers mentioned, youo do need to continue to add water. I think I added about three extra cups by the time it was all finished, along with a little more boullion powder. I thought it was very good, but my nieces wouldn't touch it because they said it was ugly.

This soup was AMAZING. I've been looking for a good lentil soup recipe for a long time, and I've finally found it. I omitted the celery and added two tablespoons of minced onion. It turned out wonderfully.

Like everyone else, I had to add tons more water during cooking, and it was done in about half the estimated time. Also, I halved this recipe for the two of us thinking there would be leftovers for another meal, but it made BARELY 3 servings. Next time I will make the entire batch to get 2 meals. I used a generous sprinkling of dried minced onion. The soup was thick and flavorful, I would definitely recommend trying it - just be sure to watch the water closely!

Hi. I tried the soup today. Very good. I did add the 1/2 cup chopped onion as suggested. I also used 8 cups chicken broth. This was a little thin so next time I will use 6 cups. Plus I like shortcuts so I put everything but the potatoes in at the beginning and it was ready in about 30 minutes. I then added left over mashed potatoes from the night before. Next time I will try a little ground sausage.

This was a very tasty lentil soup- just a few adjustements. 1/2 of an onion, double the water to 8 cups, and I just left the potatoes in and never mashed them. It tasted great! Next time, I think I will leave out the carrots and add an extra stalk of celery.

The first time I made this, it burnt on the bottom of the pan - 4 cups of water was just not enough. The second time, I did a better job of monitoring the progress, and added water at times. It still turned out very thick (which was okay with us). I also omitted the celery, and I think I may omit the carrot next time too. The taste of the soup, when done (and not burned) was great!

Oops, the ingredients list apparently left out the onions. I chopped a half and added it-- quite a tastey soup, especially for lentil-lovers. Agreed with the previous reviewer that it is very thick, even after doubling the water.